learning contract

I have completed my formal learning contract for the Technical PD. It is available here. I realized I had piled on more than I needed when Professor Dawson reminded us Masters students only need to do either the PD or book review. I can't honestly say I'm disappointed. But I will still use the texts I have acquired as a backbone for my venture into web architecture.

-hasta la semana proxima

Positioning Part Deux

I intend on exploring the various theories and applications of information architecture. IA is "the practice of structuring information for a purpose (wikipedia.com)." I have always felt a strong subjective connection to all forms of visual media, yet I lack the theoretical knowledge to articulate why I appreciate, or glean information, from certain visual stimuli and not others. I think fortifying my knowledge of the develoment, assessment, and distribution of information systems will greatly enhance my ability to create instructional media.

Web design is a major focus in the study of IA. I started reading Robin Williams Web Design Workbook (which I plan to critique for my book review) and I am really intrigued with the way Williams presents her ideas. In the book, Williams practices what she preaches by reinforcing her theory with real-world examples and experience, ranging from screen shots to pictorial examinations of advertising materials.

I have also ordered a book called Ambient Findability by Peter Morville. This one takes a more theoretical stance in the investigation of psychological phenomena involved in searching and utilizing interactive information systems. I am compiling a RefWorks database (thanks again, Mary) with citations for articles, studies, and dissertations on IA with a focus on instruction.

My research will cuminate with a paper I plan to publish to a web server as a pdf, ideally with hyperlinks, embedded images, and possibly video.

Here goes....

Paradigms en place

Constructivism

• I was excited to learn about constructivism because it fully explained to me why a professor I had as an undergrad student was so effective in constructing new insight within his students. Terry Harpold is a phenomenal instructor who teaches absolutely mind-bending courses like the one I took from him, Eccentric Spaces and Spatialities. In the course, Professor Harpold chose texts ranging from short fiction (JG Ballard), to literary theory (Gaston Bachelard), to novels (Phillip K. Dick), and on to Freud's personal journals. He coupled (sometimes tripled) our readings with visual demonstrations of computer animations, video game interfaces, and movie trailers.
  

As a student in the course I had to step outside during our breaks and take deep breaths, then spend the rest of the evening after class trying to untie my mind. His lectures and demonstrations forced the class to think in completely new ways because we had to try so hard to recognize the connections Professor Harpold made between so many different forms of media. His brand of constructivist instruction encourages his students to deconstruct even the most seemingly simplistic forms of media. And, subsequently, discover a wealth of complexity.

• Pandora.com is website dedicated to educating users in the existence -- and maybe appreciation -- of a wealth of lesser-known musical acts. Pandora creators sought to develop an engine to respond to the question "can you introduce me to new music?". I think Pandora does an excellent job of answering this question by allowing users to impart their own tastes into the process of creating an internet radio station.
  

Objectivism

• This training module is used by the UF Health Science Center Privacy office to demonstrate compliance with HIPAA training requirements. It utilizes a PowePoint presentation modified for web delivery. The slides focus on the behavioral practices involved in handling various types of confidential information. The quiz sections ask the user to recall specific information delivered in the preceeding slides.
  

• This game lets users play the role of Dick Cheney, Sharpshooter, in a drill and kill (literally) first person shooter. The user hones their timing in clicking the mouse to expel the opponents.
  

Schema Theory

• This experiment is an interesting investigation in schema theory as it applies to memory in real and virtual environments. In the study participants were given the opportunity to explore a real office environment or an identical virtual one (via a simulator). The participants were then tested on the appearance of certain objects within the environment.
  

• This study looks at cognitive load theory as a valuable concept in the design and implementation of instructional systems. It examines existing instructional systems in context of the varying capacities of short and longterm memory.
  

Computers, the bane of our existence

Last night I set out to design a web page for my visual representation of chapter 6 from the text. I was designing a page similar to the one Jade made, using a layered navigation scheme and a single url. I haven't really ever designed a page in layers (though I have wanted to learn it), so it took me quite a while to get the navigation set up. I finished the page around noon today, and I was just going to add it to the site I manage with a discrete url.

But, naturally, when I went to upload the files to our network server (where I work) I came to find that the firewall that was installed this very morning had displaced our network drive and I couldn't get acces to it. AHHHH!

I don't yet have a site I host -- though this is as much impetus as I need to set one up -- so I spent most of the afternoon breaking apart the layers I had designed, converting them to jpg's in Photoshop, then dropping them in a Powerpoint slide show. But, since I don't have a site to host the .ppt on, I am just emailing it to myself and Professor Dawson for use in our class.

I love how humbling technology can be.

Just to be clear...

I mentioned in a previous post I intend to learn ActionScript 2 for my Authentic Technical PD. These are the steps I will take to complete this goal and deliver a finished product in the form of an Information Security General Awareness Training Module.

• 1. Finding resources: I have purchased two books on the process, "Understanding Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript 2 (Rapo, Michael)" and "Beginning Flash Game Programming for Dummies (Harris)"; I have purchased the SoThink SWF Decompiler in order to deconstruct existing training modules designed in Flash; and I have compiled a bookmark folder containing various Flash informational sites and existing training modules Completion Date: ongoing

• 2. Writing the script: I am currently re-working the script from version 1.0 of the SPICE General Awareness training (this re-writing is a collaborative process in which I write and make edits based on input from my supervisor and the IS systems analyst) Completion Date: Oct. 1

• 3. Recording the script: I have equipment and narration training to make this process quick and painless Completion Date: Oct. 3

• 4. Design and program module: Here's where the hair pulling will start Completion Date: Nov. 1

I look forward to the learning experience and the future applications acquiring this skill will enable.

Tech, history, and future...

I found this article on CNet I thought you all might find interesting in the context of our Ed Tech history reading. The author discusses returning to UC Berkeley 1.5 years after graduation and being overwhelmed by how tech-savvy the current students at her alma mater have become. Her references are purely anecdotal, and sometimes downright silly, but the topic is one virtually everyone feels.

My major issue with the article has to do with an analogy she tries to draw between Peer To Peer file sharing and vinyl records:

I grew up in an age when pirated music was prevalent; to me, the idea of paying for music online is still somewhat strange. I might as well go out and buy the CD for a similar price or cheaper, and get some great cover art while I'm at it. I guess to this bunch of college kids, CD art is as foreign as vinyl. Do I smell a generation gap?

As someone who actually enjoys buying music on vinyl, I think the author should know vinyl is selling more now than it has in almost 15 years. With a 12" canvas, the buyer really gets to see what the artist had in mind to accompany their music visually. And many record labels have made a very smart move by offering the buyer a coupon with a password allowing the buyer to download the album for play on their mp3 player.

-Ben

ps.........don't steal music.

Last night I dreamt I could get a real job

I really enjoyed the conversations last night with the former Ed Tech students. Cheers to them for offering us their time and wisdom. I also found it very encouraging that there is, indeed, a job market for instructional design.

Like most of us, I entered the Ed Tech program through the side door. No, make that an unlocked window. I have never taken an education course before. Both of my parents are teachers and it never really occurred to me to go into the education field, except maybe as a professor at some tiny liberal arts college in my mind.

While working on my undergrad degree in Film and Media Studies I worked in various fine dining establishments and played in a band called Edward the Bear. After graduating, I was going to be a musician. We toured, started our own label, and eventually collapsed in disappointed frustration. In the mean time I had gotten pretty good at cooking and thought I might go into the food service industry. Nope, restauranteurship is just too hard. On to video production.

I started a video production company called High Noon Productions with a couple of friends from school and had a two-year course in trying to learn the inner workings of a field AND try and build a small business from the ground up. Then last December my fiance gave me an ultimatum: stop working 80 hour weeks and start helping out with the bills or find a new place to live. I chose to stick my neck out into the Gainesville job market. After a month of shaving, tidying, and bowing I found a job designing training media for the UF HSC Information Security program. At the time I was like "information security...that's like locking your laptop to your desk, right?" I've learned a bit since then.

I knew I wanted to go back to school. But for what? I looked in the Documentary Institute, the Digital Media program, Film Studies (again), the FSU Film Production program, and kept coming up empty. Until one of my supervisors (a doc student in Ed Admin) said "why don't you look into Ed Tech, that's what you do here anyway."

It was like a bolt of lightning once I met Professor Ferdig.

And now -- get this, mom -- I can actually get a job making decent money and helping people get better at whatever it is they do.

Grinning,
Ben